This invention relates to a truck bed liner and more particularly to a reinforced, molded, one-piece truck bed liner.
Molded one-piece truck bed liners, as well as truck bed liners incorporating some rib members in the bottom and front walls, and some reinforcing in the side walls, are known in the art, as shown in the following U.S. Pat Nos.:
______________________________________ 3,653,710 Barnard Apr. 4, 1972 4,047,749 Lambitz et al Sep. 13, 1977 4,111,481 Nix et al Sep. 5, 1978 4,128,271 Gray Dec. 5, 1978 4,161,335 Nix et al July 17, 1979 4,162,098 Richardson July 24, 1979 4,181,349 Nix et al Jan. 1, 1980 4,245,863 Carter Jan. 20, 1981 4,333,678 Munoz et al June 8, 1982 4,336,963 Nix et al June 29, 1982 4,341,412 Wayne July 27, 1982 Re. 32,198 Wayne July 8, 1986 Japan Application 52-53519 ______________________________________
The Barnard patent discloses spaced vertical rib members in the side walls, front wall, and tailgate liner, but not in the bottom wall.
The Lambitz patent discloses longitudinally extending transversely spaced rib members in the bottom liner wall and the tailgate liner wall and vertically extending trapezoidal reinforcing members in the front walls and the side walls of the liner.
All of the Nix et al patents disclose longitudinally extending, transversely spaced rib members in the front and bottom liner walls and the tailgate liner wall, but no reinforcing of any type in the side liner walls.
Gray merely discloses a bottom liner wall having longitudinally extending rib members.
Richardson also discloses a single bottom liner wall having longitudinally extending rib members separated by longitudinal valleys, two of the valleys of which are provided with longitudinally raised portions to permit room for fastening means.
The Carter patent discloses only side liner walls having a few vertically extending reinforcing ribs and a single longitudinally extending rib.
The Munoz et al patent discloses a knock-down truck bed liner in which the front and side walls have recessed areas for reinforcing and the bottom liner wall has divided diagonal rib members. The tailgate liner includes transversely spaced longitudinally extending rib members.
Both of the Wayne patents disclose longitudinally extending, transversely spaced, straight rib members in the front and bottom liner walls and the tailgate liner. The Wayne side walls are provided with reinforcing in the form of simulated shingles.
The Japanese patent merely discloses a bottom liner wall having longitudinally extending, transversely spaced, rib members.